Inexplicable
by Youknowwhatever
Summary: A story in which Riley doesn't realize that when this girl at school said she wanted to "go out" with her, she meant she wanted to go out on a date with her.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Through Riley's eyes, gathered around at the control console, all the emotions stood together, surveying the eating area that was full of other kids, most of who were chatting happily with friends. Empty spaces were hard to come by, though Riley stood, frowning slightly, to look for a good entry point into some social circle. None of the prospects seemed very promising, to say the least.

"Maybe if we break down in tears somebody will feel sorry for her and ask her to sit with them out of pity," Sadness suggested in that depressing tone of hers. Disgust opened her mouth to say something no doubt hurtful, but Joy chimed in quick to cut her off.

"I'm not sure that would work out to well for Riley," Joy said, firm but gentle. It was the essence of what Disgust was about to say, put more delicately. Ever since their adventure together through the recesses of the mind, Joy felt terrible telling Sadness not to act on her nature. Still, what was best for Riley was best for Riley, and if anything crying again in front of everyone would only damage her reputation further. "How about instead we ask somebody if we can sit with them?"

"Absolutely not, that is literally the worst possible thing for us to do, looking desperate like that." Disgust scoffed like it was the most logical argument in the world, though Joy didn't see any harm in her idea. Before she could argue her position any further, Fear started in with his usual manic worrying, talking so fast they could barely keep up with what he was saying.

"They'll make fun of her and laugh in Riley's face, I have a very clear picture in my head of one of those snide popular girls making a joke to her friends about her and everybody laughing-"

Joy threw up her arms, frustrated. "Okay, fine, we'll sit alone again today. But I'm telling you, this cannot happen everyday."

* * *

Riley sighed heavily and sat then in what had become her usual spot on the bench in the corner of the asphalt and started picking at her cafeteria lunch of mashed potatoes and some blocky slab of chicken that looked like it was breaded with sawdust. The way it felt at the end of her fork and the way it looked was enough to set her off her appetite, not that she had felt like eating beforehand, what with the dull ache in the pit in her stomach at having to sit alone yet again. It wasn't so much that she was being bullied, just that she had yet to connect with anybody in her first few weeks in her new home. Though she had worked out a lot of her issues with her parents days before, and no longer felt quite so miserable all the time, she still wished she had friends that she could hang out with at school. She had her old friends from her old home that she could always talk to, but it just wasn't the same.

A shadow passed over her and when she looked up from her Styrofoam tray, she saw another girl staring down at her, shyly smiling with teeth covered in braces, an identical tray in her hands. Her face was heart shaped with a chicken pox scar on her chin, and straight brown hair tied back in a ponytail held in a purple clip. She wore a white zip-up sweater and blue jeans, all in all just an altogether average preteen school kid. Riley barely registered what she was doing there, but then saw for a split second a strain on the girl's face like she was working up the will to speak, which she eventually did, stuttering out a quiet "hello" in a voice that was sweet, though stilted.

"Um, hi."

Another pause, then this girl said nervously "…I like your sweater." That being Riley's rainbow sweater, her favorite. Flattered but slightly taken aback, Riley thanked her for the compliment before telling her that she liked her sweater as well. A few more seconds of uncomfortable silence passed when the girl finally asked, "would you mind if I sat here?"

Riley's eyes brightened up, and excitedly she nodded, saying "no, of course not," and moving her backpack off of the empty space beside her to free up space. The girl sat down, placing her half eaten tray of food on her lap, then stuck out her hand.

"My name's Ann, by the way."

Riley shook her hand and beamed, "I'm Riley, I just moved here from Minnesota."

"Really?" Ann asked. "What brings you to San Francisco?" Before they knew it, they were deep in conversation.

* * *

Inside Ann's head, her version of Joy was hard at work on the console, staring out the eyes at Riley's happy face, smiling to herself at the sight of her. This first meeting was turning into pretty big success by her standards; not five minutes after meeting and the two girls were already talking, joking, and sharing stories with each other. The only thing making things difficult were the other emotions in Ann's head, talking in the background and making it hard for her to focus.

Disgust, in Ann's mind a young man in preppy clothing, was the loudest. "Can you believe how bad Ann is blowing it here I mean come on 'I like your sweater' is that really the best she could do ugh she's so horrible and stupid and it's a miracle Riley's still talking to her."

Anger shared his sentiments, though more furiously. He hit his fist on the console, shouting "stupid, stupid, stupid" over and over both to himself and to Ann. Fortunately, he didn't hit any truly important buttons.

Fear, a woman in a checkerboard patterned dress, was busy standing behind Joy, wringing her thin hands together, urging her to "abort" and make Ann walk away. Sadness lay on the floor in the corner like a blue slug, whimpering now and then that there was no hope, that Ann was undeserving of companionship. Blocking these assertions out was a true challenge.

Joy's strained and tired eyes blinked unwaveringly; clearly she was used to all this. "Guys," she said, exasperated, "I'm gonna need you all to stop distracting me, I'm trying to hold a conversation here." That conversation currently having to do with funny things that had happened during the last few days at school. Riley hadn't been around to experience much so far, being the new kid and all, but still shared a few stories from her old school that made Ann chuckle. Joy left the console for a moment to pick over the wall of recent memories, finding a pretty even mix of spheres of every color, though yellow was a bit sparser than the others. Finally she found what she was looking for, a memory of some student who slipped in the hallway a few weeks ago and spilled food over one of the more hated teachers, an event that was a huge source of happiness for many of the kids. Joy loaded it into the projector, queuing Ann to tell Riley what happened.

"That's such a stupid thing that happened Riley isn't going to think that's funny she's just going to think it's stupid you know that right?" Disgust prattled on while J tried to ignore him to make sure things were running smoothly. Though Ann's delivery was a bit stilted from nerves, Riley still laughed uproariously.

"What just happened?" Fear asked.

"Riley just laughed at something Ann said," Joy answered proudly.

That made the others take notice. Sadness stood up off the floor with some effort and joined everyone behind the eyes, Anger quit his pounding on the console, and Fear mellowed out to the point where all she had to say was, "you know Joy, I'm pretty happy we let you drive on this one."

Even Disgust quit his negative talking for a moment to smile at the view of Riley's happy face. "…Yeah, me too."

* * *

As they talked more Ann's nerves dissipated as she became more comfortable, but before they knew it the bell to return to classes sounded over the PA system, cutting their conversation short. They walked together to the trashcan, throwing away what was left of their disgusting meals.

"We should totally text each other!" Riley said excitedly. "Let me see your phone real quick." Typing fast she put her number in Ann's cell, then had her do the same to hers, which was so surreal to Ann that she could hardly believe it. "I'll see you later!" Riley started walking inside while Ann froze to the ground, suddenly regaining that nervousness she first had.

Stammering, she called to Riley before she could disappear through the entrance to the school. "Hey, wait a second, will ya?" Riley turned back, puzzled, and waited to hear what she had to say, which came out of her mouth in a rapid speed as her face went all red. "So I was thinking that this was really great having lunch together and all and I was just thinking that maybe, if you wanted, we could go out sometime. Together. Maybe this Friday?" She expected her to either laugh in her face or run away, but what she didn't expect was for Riley to smile, playfully hit her arm, and say that of course she would love to and that they could text the details that night.

By then they were both dangerously close to being late for their next class, and so walked inside together until having to part for separate rooms, Ann all the while feeling elated and slightly dizzy at having found the courage to ask this new girl on a date, and even more so at her seemingly saying yes.

* * *

A golden sphere fell down the tract in Riley's head and rolled into place onto the wall of memories. Joy was bouncing up and down with excitement against the walls of Riley's skull. The others were far more subdued about their happiness, as that was their nature, but all no doubt were thrilled that Riley was able to make a new friend. Even better that she had come to them, rather than Riley having to move outside her comfort zone.

"Isn't this incredible!" Joy shouted. "Riley's made her first new friend, and she even said she wants to hang out sometime!"

"I know," Fear said, "we didn't even have to do anything."

"Riley just had to be her own wonderful self is all," Disgust said, brushing her hair over her shoulder all self-satisfied, though that did quickly turn into an over-exaggerated gagging sound. "I ain't even mad about that lunch I mean jeez did you see that stuff? Riley will have to make something decent when she gets home."

"And Ann is just so great, isn't she?" Joy was saying, lost in thought, staring wide-eyed out the window towards the islands, where Friendship Island was just starting to fizzle out after working the past half hour. "I mean, she's nice, she's funny, she's pretty…"

Eyes narrowed suspiciously, Anger asked "what was that last thing you said?"

Laughing awkwardly, Joy tried her best to backtrack. "I was just saying that she's pretty…pretty much cool all around, ya know?" Before further questions could be asked she ran back to Riley's eyes and pointed out with far more excitement than was warranted. "Anyway woah we're about to start History class can you even believe it let's focus all our energy on that."

* * *

After school was over Riley went straight to her new house, running with energy through the front door and shouting, "Mom, I'm home!"

Her mother came to the entrance to greet her with a hug. "Hey monkey, did you have a good day at school?"

"Yeah, a great day. I made a friend."

Mother smiled down at her daughter, happy to hear that she was making connections in what was still a new city. "That's great, what's their name?"

"Ann. She's pretty cool. We're gonna hang out on Friday! Is that okay?"

"Of course hon." At that Riley ran up to her room, after which her mother called up as a hasty reminder "remember to do your homework!"

Up in her room, which after the moving van finally arrived no longer seemed so bare and creepy, Riley went to her desk and cracked open textbooks and notebooks, ready to begin studying when her phone vibrated in her pocket. A good excuse for procrastination. She got her phone out and saw a message from Ann.

"So I was thinking Friday I could come by your place around five and we could go see avengers and get some pizza or something," it read. "Tht sound good?"

Smiling giddily, Riley messaged back "sounds totally awesome" along with a thumbs up emoji.

A few minutes later a new text appeared, and what it said first confused Riley. "Just so I know, do your parents know about us going out? I'd hate to show up and cause you any problems with them..." Seemed an odd thing to ask.

* * *

"Now what do think that's supposed to mean," Sadness wondered out loud.

Disgust had to think for a moment, and then all of a sudden it hit her clear as day. "She's probably just wondering if Riley's parents know what she's doing Friday night so they don't get worried about her. She's so considerate!"

* * *

"Haha they know I just have to be home by 8:00 cause I can't be out when it's dark :)"

"Lol okay dn't worry I'll make sure you're home by then ;)" And that was the end of those types of questions, from that point on they just chatted about nothing in particular as R did her homework, blissfully unaware that over at Ann's house she was beating herself up because using a winking emoji in her text was "way too soon," as her version of Anger put it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note:** This chapter contains a pretty hefty spoiler for Age of Ultron.

Chapter 2

The rest of the week dragged by until Friday arrived, when both girls were, for different reasons, excited to have a day to spend with each other, though of course in the intervening days they always sat together during lunch periods.

When Riley arrived home that Friday she went straight to her room to blow through her homework and get ready. Her father was home then, a result of a rare afternoon off. He had been hoping to spend it with his whole family, but understood when his wife explained why Riley wouldn't be around. It was important, she told him, for their daughter to have an active social life, and he agreed.

Doorbell rang and he got up off the couch to answer it, opening the door to find Ann standing there with her hands folded behind her back, smiling politely.

"Hi," she said, "are you Mr. Anderson?"

"That's right, and you must be Ann. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm here to pick Riley up for our date."

"Wait, what?" But before he got an answer Riley rushed down the stairs excitedly and met up with Ann while her father stood by slightly taken aback.

"Bye dad," she said before walking onto the sidewalk with Ann by her side.

"Uh," he stammered, still a bit confused but quick to regain himself. "Have fun monkey!" he called, voice firm. "I love you!" Almost as an afterthought he then yelled, "Make sure you're home before dark!"

Riley turned around, walking backwards as she did her monkey routine from a distance with her father while Ann giggled from the sidelines. At the sound of her laughter, Riley suddenly became embarrassed, saying, "Sorry, that's just some dumb thing me and my parents do."

"No, it's okay. I think it's adorable." They smiled the rest of the way to the theater.

* * *

In the military outpost that was Riley's father's mind, all his emotions were still reacting to what Ann had first said.

"I guess this is what we get for moving to San Fransisco," Disgust said sarcastically, though he immediately regretted it as soon as he noticed everyone else staring at him with scornful eyes, not least of all Anger, who rose from his seat in rage.

"What did you just say?" he seethed through clenched teeth.

Disgust was speechless, backing down in fear, while ironically Fear was looking upon him in disgust. Weird. "Sir," Disgust apologized, "I…I'm sorry."

"That is our daughter you son of a bitch. How dare you."

"I'm sorry," was all he could reply with.

"You better be, because if you ever say something like that again I'll send you into the stomach to be dissolved in acid."

"Gross."

"We will be supportive of our daughter," Anger said with resolve, slamming his fist on his armrest.

* * *

The girls sat together in the cool theater; a welcome relief from the hot summer weather, finding joy in the dark, watching superheroes beat each other up. They'd elbow each other in excitement after every particularly awesome moment, especially during the scene with the hulk buster. At the time, there was nothing more enjoyable they could have been doing, though of course after the lights went on their opinions formed more fully. They agreed to discuss their thoughts over pizza at a nearby parlor, one that thankfully served more than just slices topped with broccoli.

* * *

"So," Ann asked, "what did you think of the movie?"

It was chaos in Riley's head as each emotion argued passionately for their voices to be dominant.

"I can't believe they killed off Quicksilver," Sadness said. "He was such a good guy and he died saving Hawkeye that's really sad…"

"Who cares about Quicksilver!?" Anger cut her off. "They completely ruined Black Widow. I mean, did they ever hint in any of the other movies that she and the hulk had any interest in each other? Where did that come from!"

"Preach," Disgust said.

Fear was fairly laid back for one of the rare times in his strung out existence. "Ultron himself was way scarier in the trailers than in the movie itself."

Only Joy had an unabashedly positive opinion of the whole film. "I liked him, he was hilarious!"

"Yeah, but he didn't really do much when you think about it. He didn't seem to threaten humanity any more than any other Marvel villain did."

"Yeah…well, at least the action scenes were good."

On that, at least, everyone nodded in agreement.

* * *

"It was okay," Riley finally said. "Not the best Marvel movie, not the worst. It was just…okay."

"Yeah, I feel kind of the same way. Fun though. Going to the movies is always fun, even when the movie isn't that great."

"Oh yeah, it was a lot of fun! So, what is your favorite Marvel movie?"

"The first Avengers duh!"

"I'm more of a Guardians of the Galaxy girl myself, but yeah, the first Avengers was amazing." Then an idea struck her like lightening, and she gasped in delight, which caused Ann to flinch slightly then laugh. "Oh my gosh, I just had a great idea! You know what we should do?"

"What?"

"One day. Sleepover. Every Marvel movie on DVD. You in?"

Ann grinned ear to ear, showing off a full view of her braces. "Totally." The waitress came then to drop off their slices of pizza, Riley opting for something covered in pepperoni and olives while Ann went with the dreaded broccoli slice, a choice that vexed Riley completely.

"I still can't believe you ordered broccoli pizza on purpose. I wouldn't eat broccoli if you payed me."

"It's healthy though, and on pizza it doesn't even taste bad. You'd probably like it if you actually tried it!"

"I'll pass for now," she replied, taking a big sloppy bite out of her pizza and letting stringy mozzarella stick to her chin, not that she seemed to notice or care.

* * *

"Oh my gosh this girl is too adorable," Joy gushed.

Disgust agreed. "Yeah, ordinarily I'd probably be gagging right now but with her I don't really mind."

* * *

Pretty much the rest of their time together that afternoon was much like the time they spent during lunch the rest of the week, joking around innocently and sharing stories about themselves.

As promised, Ann had escorted Riley home by sunset, standing outside the front door, Riley wanting to hold off entering just a while longer to spend a few last moments with her friend.

"This was fun, I had a great time," she said, making Ann blush with happiness. "Let's do this again next week."

"Definitely." Then they just stared into each other's eyes, Ann feeling that same fluttering in her stomach she felt when she first saw her, and Riley feeling something not altogether different, not that she knew what it meant.

"So…I guess I'll see you Monday?"

"Yeah, see you then." Riley went inside then, leaving Ann to stand a moment or so more in awe at how the day went before starting her walk home.

* * *

"I told you everything would work out," Ann's version of Joy said all smug. She stood in front of the wall of memories, happy to see that a great number of golden orbs had been added over the last few hours.

"I'm sure we'll screw up eventually," Sadness said. "Nothing good lasts."

"Oh, come on!" Joy yelled, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "That was a great first date! Ann was charming, she was fun to be around… Riley clearly enjoyed herself."  
Disgust's eyes narrowed in skepticism, muttering under his breath "I don't know about that…"

"Disgust, you really need to stop. You're supposed to be keeping Ann from getting poisoned, not making her hate herself. Can I get some back up here Anger?"

Anger only shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I'm mad at him for constantly putting Ann down all the time, but also the things he says make me mad at Ann, like I believe the things that Disgust is saying. I dunno. I'm just kinda mad in general, as is my want."

"Can't we just enjoy this? Just for a little while? Please?" Joy pleaded. Nobody answered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Note:** Hey guys, thank you so much for reading this. This is literally the first fanfiction I have ever written, so I'm glad if people are enjoying it at all. I updated the previous two chapters so that they're formatted better. Anyway, enjoy this chapter filled with stupid references to the game Splatoon, which I haven't even played.

Chapter 3

And so a routine was set. They'd sit together during every school day, which was made even better when Ann introduced Riley to her own group of friends, though not as her girlfriend as she was still far too shy. Fridays, however, were all their own. One week after their initial movie adventure Riley decided to introduce her to hockey, and was shocked, downright shocked that she didn't even know how to skate. Riley took it upon herself to teach her. They spent hours at the ice rink, not quitting until she could glide along on her own wobbling legs without Riley's hand in her own guiding her, though in all honesty she greatly preferred that.

The following week was the start of summer vacation, and they decided to start it off right with a sleepover to end all sleepovers. Over the weekend they were all set to do that marathon they had earlier planned of every Marvel film, making a pact to stay up the entire 24 plus hours to complete it. It would be a challenge, Riley warned, but with enough sugar coursing through their veins she was confident they could pull it off.

Armed with a sleeping bag, a bag of clothes, and twenty dollars worth of rented DVDs, Riley was dropped off in front of Ann's house by her parents, who were happy to send her away once they knew that Ann's father would be there to supervise. As they drove off, wishing their daughter their love from the car windows, Riley strolled up to the front door and knocked, and moments later she was greeted by a thin man in his thirties with glasses and thinning hair.

"Hi," he said as he smiled down, "you must be Riley. Ann's told me so much about you. Come on inside." She did.

In the entrance of the house he called up this white spiral staircase for his daughter to come down before going to the living room to have a seat on the couch with his newspaper. Ann came running down excitedly, beaming wide. "Hey Riley!"

"Hi Ann, I like your place."

"Heh heh, thanks. Wanna see my room?"

"Heck yeah." They ran up the stairs.

Ann's room was painted all in pink and white, with tall stacks of video games lined on black shelves in the corner next to a small TV on a dresser, a Wii U beside it. "That's quite a collection you got there," Riley said, sounding impressed. She started browsing the titles even as Ann started rattling off names.  
"We could play some stuff together if you want. I've got Kirby, Super Smash, Splatoon…"

* * *

"Oh no," Anger whispered under his breath, for he knew that they were all in for a torturous few hours. Something was triggered in some dark corner of Riley's memory, and a memory rolled in and immediately began playing, over and over on a loop. Anger screamed to the sky, Fear ran in a panic, Sadness cried, and Disgust clasped her hands hard over her ears though it was no use. Joy was the only one who didn't seem to mind, rocking out on this air guitar as Goofball Island lit up outside the control tower.

* * *

"Great, now that song's gonna be stuck in my head all day."

"What song?"

"You know, the Splatoon commercial song." She started singing and dancing, loud and intentionally bad. "You're a kid now! You're a squid now! You're a kid you're a squid you're a kid you're a squid you're a kid you're a squid you're a kid you're a squid you're a kid you're a squiiiiiiiiid now-"

"Riley you have to stop." She seemed worried. Riley payed no mind at all, and took a hairbrush in her hands and started using it as a microphone, Ann standing aside, looking confused then busting a gut laughing.

"Splatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatattatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatata-"

"Riley stop!" shouted over her, clutching her sides.

"Tatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatata splatoon!"

"You're so ridiculous," Ann said, still giggling. Riley bowed comically then went back to taking in the sights of the room, when out of the corner of her eye she spotted something that really drew her attention. It was an acoustic guitar left on a stand by the closet.

"You can play guitar?" she asked. She picked it up to see how heavy it was and sat down on the bed, lightly strumming it with her fingers. "That's so cool!"

"Well, I can play a little. Do you know any instruments?"

"I can play hot cross buns and chopsticks on the piano. That's about it. Can you play something now?"

She began fidgeting, darting her eyes and blushing. "I dunno, I'm not really very good."

"Come on, I just gave you a performance of a lifetime," she teased, "and you're not going to return the favor? I'm sure you're amazing."

"No, I suck, I'll just embarrass myself." She was laughing a bit, but not the genuine type that suggested she was joking around. Riley became serious, comforting her with a hand on her shoulder.

"You won't, you don't have to be embarrassed. But if you're not comfortable about it then that's okay too."

* * *

Ann's Joy was pacing around, disappointed, for Disgust had wrestled the console away from her and made Disgust put herself down once again. "Well," he said, "we dodged a bullet on that one. Let's see if R wants to play some video games before we start the marathon."

"I say we play something," Joy argued. "It could be fun, something a little different. She want's Ann to share part of herself with her, I think that's pretty special."

"I wouldn't risk it," Fear said.

"Besides," Disgust added, "Ann is no good."

With a determined scowl on her face, Joy dragged him to the windows that looked out on the personality islands that made up Ann's character. "Look out at the islands," she urged, "and tell me what you see."

Disgust just rolled his eyes and scoffed as he often did. "I know the islands, Joy."

"Do it anyway."

Playing along though he already knew her point, Disgust listed them off one-by-one with ambivalence. "Well, there's Family Island, Friends Island, Video Games Island, Low Self Esteem Island, my personal favorite…"

"And?" She explicitly pointed out the farthest island to the right, one with a long wooden neck with steel strings jutting from its center like a spire.

"Yeah, I'm aware of Guitar Island, Joy."

"So you know that Ann is pretty dang good at it. Look Disgust, if we want to go further in this relationship, it's time for Ann to do some opening up."

Rolling his eyes, Disgust finally relented. "…Fine."

* * *

Eyes coming up off the floor, Ann took the guitar and sat on the bed next to Riley with something approaching confidence. "…Promise not to make fun of me after?"

"Yeah, of course. I wouldn't dream of it."

"Ok. I can't believe I'm gonna do this." Another moment to brace herself, then she let loose, strumming out what was instantly recognizable as a cover of "Shake It Off." She played well, missing a few strums now and again but not enough to take away from the performance. A few bars in, she started singing in a voice that was high and sweet, shedding away all her doubts as the music played.

"Cause the players gonna play, play, play

And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate

Baby I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake

Shake it off

Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break

And the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake

Baby I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake

Shake it off, Shake it off"

* * *

Even over the sounds of the Splatoon song pounding away in Riley's head, her emotions were still able to appreciate the performance. "Wow, she's pretty good," Disgust said, "and I should know."

"Yeah, it's an awful shame that she doesn't think much of herself, that's really sad…"

"It sure is. I mean look at this girl, look at this perfect person before us, look at this absolute gem of a human being," Joy started rambling, gushing more like, about the various thoughts swimming through her head, "She's so nice and kind and I just feel really grateful that we're together, ya know? Ya know what I'm saying guys? How can she not see how great she is?"

"How!?" Anger repeated angrily, naturally, perhaps upset that he hasn't really had much reason to do anything recently.

Joy wasn't even paying attention, more thinking aloud to herself as she stared at the girl singing her heart out before Riley's eyes. "I mean, I just… I just…"

"You what, Joy?" Fear asked.

She all of a sudden became defensive. "I just really like her a lot, okay? Platonically. Strictly as a friend."

* * *

As the music died down, Ann looked up at Riley with wide eyes full of anxiety, but that turned to relief once Riley began clapping and cheering like she had just watched a live concert, high fiving her friend while saying "Oh my God that was amazing!"

Even then, Ann found a way to remain glum. "No, I messed up a couple of times, it was garbage."

Taking on a solemn tone, Riley said, "Ann, stop that. You don't suck. In fact, you just blew my socks off there. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself. You're awesome. Deal with it."

Now they both smiled at each other, Ann's eyes watering slightly as a result of Sadness plugging away in her head. "Thanks. I think I need to hear that sometimes."

Riley nodded, then her grin turned all of a sudden slightly mischievous. "Hey. You know what I think we should do?"

"W-what?"

* * *

"Girls?" Ann's father called as he knocked on his daughter's door. "I ordered you guys a pizza for your movie marathon, you should come down and eat." He heard no answer. "I'm coming in." He ended up wishing he hadn't.

On the other side of that door he saw them both on the bed, Ann strumming fast on her guitar.

"YOU'RE A KID NOW," they both sang at the top of their lungs. "YOU'RE A SQUID NOW YOU'RE A KID YOU'RE A SQUID YOU'RE A KID YOU'RE A SQUID YOU'RE A KIIIIIIIIIIIIID NOOOOOOOOOOOW!"

* * *

Anger raged in his head, but there was nothing to be done. The other emotions wrestled him for a long while before they were able to stabilize his system. "I really hate that song," his version of Disgust said.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

By the time they were nearing the middle of _The Avengers_ it was early the next morning though they didn't feel at all tired, thanks to all the soda they were drinking. Paper plates and napkins stained with pizza grease littered the living room around them, as did red plastic cups with their insides sticky with sugary liquid. Blessed with their youth, it wasn't likely that they'd ever regret this time together, especially them sitting close together on the couch, finding joy in the mindless action on screen and in each other's company.

* * *

"So, this is what dating's like, huh?" Fear asked, surprisingly calm.

"It doesn't seem any different than hanging out with any of our friends," Sadness observed. The others murmured in approval. "Looks like we got a good thing going on. She doesn't seem to hate us or think that we're terrible, which I'm sure is a very rare thing."

"Yeah I mean it's not every day you come across somebody willing to put up with somebody as worthless as Ann for five minutes, let alone date her," Disgust agreed.

Joy sighed. "You guys really need to stop saying stuff like that."

"Looks like all our worrying has been for nothing," F said, before all of a sudden she gasped loudly and flailed her hands over the console, though fortunately the others restrained her before any real damage could be done. "WAIT A MINUTE," she screamed, "I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING."

"What?" Joy asked.

"This is exactly like hanging out with any of our friends," she said it like it was some horrible thing but nobody caught onto what he meant. After all, wasn't it a good thing that dating Riley was so easy?

"So what?"

"So what if that's all she thinks this is? What if she just thinks we're friends?" and it slowly dawned on everyone what she was implying.

Anger was the first to speak up. "We have to know for sure." Joy nodded and took it upon herself to work this out, working over the controls. Riley's hand appeared in Ann's vision, lying at her side on the couch. Soon, Ann's hand was in the frame as well, slowly making its way towards Riley's to take it in its grasp.

Fear leaped into action, screaming "NO" and tackling her to the ground to make her stop, and they fought each other on the floor, pulling each other's hair until Anger finally broke them up with his great strength. "What do you think you're doing?" Fear asked once they were back on their feet and brushing themselves off, both scowling.  
"I was just gonna-" but Fear interrupted her before she could finish her sentence.

"Are you insane? If we hold her hand now, we'll be laying everything on the table!"

"So what do you suppose we do?"

She paced back and forth, wringing her hands, straining hard to formulate a plan but nothing was coming to her. "I don't know. We should collect more data first. Go out a few more times, see what happens."

"I say we just go for it,"

"Of course you say that!" Her anger was such that everyone, even Anger, was taken aback. "You're Joy. You don't care about keeping Ann safe; you don't care that if you're wrong Ann could be humiliated for the rest of her life."

Sadness saw where she was coming from and went to her side to support her. "Yeah it could end up she hates us forever and never wants to talk to us again and she'll tell all the other kids at school and they'll start making fun of us behind our back and right to our face." At this possibility Fear fell to the ground, rocking back and forth in a panic with her face hidden between her legs and her hands covering the back of her head. At the sight of such a breakdown, Joy's expression softened. Fear was prone to dramatics, but this was something else, something far more distressing to watch.

Leaning down to her level, Joy placed her hand on her shoulder and spoke in a comforting tone. "Look, Fear, you're my friend, and I really do appreciate all that you do. Ann couldn't exist without you." She became firmer then as she saw Fear's face peek from behind her legs, looking slightly reassured. "But my friend, it strikes me as a real shame that fear should be running the day in matters of love. Riley's great, and even if she's not interested in Ann in…that way, she's still a good friend. She won't make a big deal about it if we were wrong."

Anger chimed in. "And if she does, we'll punch her right in the face. Just, right in the face." For emphasis' sake, he hit his fist against his open palm.

"Right, exactly," Joy nodded, "right in the face. But I'm telling you it won't come to that."

A long pause as she considered her words. Then, defeated, a small sigh escaped her mouth. "All right, let's do this." Joy nodded, and together they went to the console and gripped a lever that, once pushed, brought Ann back on track towards holding Riley's hand. Fingers were nearly brushing but then another interruption occurred.

"Wait!" Disgust yelled, causing everyone to groan at the prospect of another drawn out argument. Luckily, he only had one thing to say. "Wipe Ann's hands on her pants first because they're all sweaty and gross."

"That's actually a good idea," Joy admitted. After that problem was taken care of, finally, Ann reached towards Riley's hand and intertwined their fingers.

* * *

In Riley's mind, her emotions were having their own issues, Fear especially. "What. The heck. Is happening right now." He spun a dial on the console that had the affect of making Riley's muscles tense up, as though she were about to detach her hand from Ann's.

Joy, by contrast, was strangely nonchalant about the whole thing. "I dunno man, just go with it. It's nice."

Fear remained unconvinced. "I have a very bad feeling about this you guys."

"Will you relax? I mean, girls hold hands all the time. Nothing wrong with that. We held hands when we were teaching Ann to skate, didn't we?"

"Yeah, I guess so…"

* * *

She could hardly believe it was working out. Riley hadn't pulled away at all. Finally at ease, Ann smiled and relaxed, enjoying the rest of the movie without a care in the world. In the end they held hands until Ann's father got up to make them both a proper breakfast. They took a break from their marathon then, going with him to a nearby park to run around and get some fresh air. Then, not ten minutes later, they were back in the dark living room watching phase 2.

Nobly they fought off the urge to sleep though their eyes were heavy and their attention span completely shot. They viewed this whole thing almost like a right of passage to be fought through till the end. When the credits finally rolled on _Guardians of the Galaxy_ their mission was finally complete, they stretched and yawned, and then crashed and burned.

It was the next day before they woke up with massive headaches. The rest of the sleepover was spent playing video games, jamming out on the guitar, and eating pure junk. But as night came they knew it all had to end; Riley's parents were picking her up at 8:00. As the hour approached she gathered her things sadly and waited around on the couch with Ann, each of them trying to take in as much of other's presence as possible like they wanted to savor it before Riley had to leave.

"I had an incredible time," she said, a touch of melancholy tingeing her voice.

"Me too. We have to do this again sometime."

"I could probably talk my parents into letting me do this again next weekend, and of course we can hang out tomorrow…" Three honks from a car parked out front alerted them to Riley's parents. "Well, see ya around. Tell your dad I said thanks for having me." As she got up towards the front door, something came over Ann, and just as Riley turned the handle she blurted out to her.

"Wait!" Acting purely on impulse, she ran up to Riley and stood frozen in front of her.

"What is it?" Before she even knew what was happening, Ann planted a quick kiss to her lips.

* * *

Fear was apoplectic. "Okay," he yelled in a panic, "that is NOT normal." He leapt onto the console and started pushing buttons and pulling levers, anything to get Riley out of there.

"Wait, this isn't what's best right now!" Sadness said. Everyone tried to keep him away, but the damage was already done. The memory of Riley's first kiss rolled into view, glowing purple.

* * *

Ann stared at Riley's face that was at first frozen in surprise. She waited, first chuckling at the adrenaline rush the kiss gave her, but then she seemed frightened as finally Riley's face broke out in worry. "I-I really have to go, my parents are waiting outside," she said in a hasty voice, tripping over her words. "I'll talk to you later bye." She opened the door and walked faster than was necessary to her parents' car as Ann went out on the sidewalk to watch her go. Even as she shrunk through the car's rear window, Riley could make out the pain that was written on her face.

* * *

"We're dead," Fear said, grasping her face in a state of pure panic. "We are definitely dead."

"I can't believe she did that to us after we finally worked up the courage to kiss her." Sadness was sobbing, down on her knees, Anger beside her.

"Me neither, that little traitor I can't believe her wait till I get my hands on her-"

Joy tried to intervene feebly, but even she was out of spirits. "Maybe it's not as bad as we think it is?"

Rolling his eyes in an "I told you so" gesture, Disgust said, "Joy, stay out of this. You're the whole reason we're in this mess in the first place." He, along with Anger, Sadness, and Fear, took control of the console, forcing Ann to run crying back into the house and up into her room, where she slammed the door behind her and collapsed on the bed in tears.

"Yeah," Joy said, hope lost, "maybe you're right. Maybe you guys should drive for a while."

And drive they did, steering Ann towards utter devastation. Anger hit a button repeatedly, its effect being that Ann hit herself over and over on her forehead with her open palm while harshly saying "stupid" repeatedly. Sadness turned her thoughts towards how she would never find any real happiness and Fear occupied her with worries about other kids finding out. Finally, Disgust did as he did best, filling Ann with extreme self-loathing as Low Self-Esteem Island whirred to life.


	5. Chapter 5

**Note:** Well, here's the end. The end of the path I started us on. Or something. Anyway, thank you for reading and reviewing and all that, I truly do appreciate it.

* * *

Chapter 5

It was three in the morning, yet Riley's eyes stared wide open up at the ceiling. Sleep didn't come easy when your emotions were running around your brain trying to process an event as momentous as your first kiss. They'd already gone over it many times, but still hadn't reached any sort of consensus.

"Alright guys," Joy said, "here's the deal. I'm 99% certain that Riley is into girls. Specifically, Ann."

Sadness groaned. "But Joy, that's weird. It's not normal for girls to like girls."

"Yeah," Fear agreed, "and if people find out she'll be a pariah, you hear me, a pariah!"

"Who cares what anybody else thinks!?" Anger said, to Joy's approval.

"Right exactly. And even though there's nothing wrong with it, we can keep it a secret from most people."

"But Honesty Island dictates that Riley won't be comfortable with that."

"It's not like she's lying. It's just that she's not telling people personal stuff about herself. What business is it of theirs anyway?" Strangely silent through his whole conversation was Disgust, who stood on the sidelines polishing her nails. "Disgust," Joy said, gaining her attention, "you know probably better than anyone what Riley likes and doesn't like. What's your take on all this?"

"Honestly, even though she likes broccoli on her pizza, I like Ann a lot. And kissing her didn't make me want to barf like I do when Riley thinks too hard about kissing boys."

Then Sadness remembered something that didn't make a lot of sense to her in the face of this new situation. "What about her imaginary boyfriend?"

Disgust just rolled her eyes. "I dunno. Could mean any number of things. My guess is he was some kind of defense mechanism created in Riley's subconscious. You know, in case the topic of boys ever came up in conversation she can just talk about her boyfriend who lives in Canada and nobody would be any the wiser."

This explanation seemed to satisfy Joy, who decided then that they had been going on long enough. "Good progress guys. Another thousand or so times rehashing the same points and we should be close to reaching a conclusion."

* * *

They didn't communicate at all over the next few days, Riley being busy trying to figure things out about herself and Ann too busy being locked in her room. Riley, after much internal agonizing, had reached a verdict in her mind; she was positive she was gay. Well, about as positive as a kid could be. Still the same thoughts bounced around her head, courtesy of Fear. What if everybody thought she was a freak? What if she had already blown it by running away from Ann after she kissed her? She got to the point where she wondered if even if she was gay what she could do about it, as she was too nervous to so much as text the girl she liked.

She wanted advice, and all through dinner one Thursday night she was internally preparing to ask for it, not even paying attention to the stories her parents were telling about their days. She sat in silence, a sad expression etched on her face.

* * *

As Riley watched their mouths move, the emotions were alerted to activity over by the islands.

Peering through the window, Anger said, "Looks like Honesty Island's starting up. And so is Family. What should we do?"

Joy just shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Just let them run. These are Riley's parents. They've already shown time and time again that they'll love her no matter what. Sadness, I need you to be on the console for a bit. I think tears are appropriate here."

* * *

Riley's parents seemed to notice her silence, and so steered the conversation to cheering her up.

"So," her mother started, "how's Ann been? We should have her over for dinner sometime soon." When Riley didn't reply and only played further with her food, she pressed, "Riley, is everything okay?"

All of a sudden she put her fork down, her look forming into one of nervous resolve. "Can I tell you guys something?" she blurted.

"Of course sweetie, anything."

Riley drew a deep breath, bracing herself for what was to come. This was it. She spoke quickly, barely pausing between words. "So, the other day Ann kissed me and I didn't know what to think at the time but over the last few days I've been thinking about it a lot and I think that…I think that I'm gay." At this point a few tears dropped from her eyes as her parents processed all this information. "And I feel really bad because I think Ann is mad at me because I was scared and haven't talked to her in a few days. And I really like her and I don't want her to hate me and I don't want either of you to think I'm weird." Finished speaking, she furiously wiped her eyes though the tears kept pouring. Her parents, in a show of support, immediately got out of their seats and stood beside her, wrapping their arms around their daughter as they did only a few weeks before.

"Riley," her father reassured her, "we would never think that of you. We love you." Smiling as though trying to lighten the mood, he added, "In fact, I already had my suspicions."

She seemed confused by this information, though perhaps comforted a small bit. "R-really?"

Her father nodded, and then explained, "When Ann first came to the house, she said you two were going on a date."

Her mother added, "And then he let me know. I want you to know that we'll always love you no matter what."

Tears stopped flowing, and Riley even smiled a small crooked grin. "And since then, you guys haven't treated me any different?"

"Why would we? You're still our daughter, still our monkey. And you always will be." Riley hugged her parents tight, and they let her, but then her mother took on a slightly more serious tone, though still gentle.

"But Riley, if you like this girl, and if she likes you, you need to talk to her and explain what you're feeling, okay? Otherwise, you could lose somebody very important in your life."

With newfound bravery, Riley spoke with determination. "I'm gonna go to her house tomorrow."

* * *

Standing still and gathering strength, Riley stood in front of Ann's front door. Mostly it was shame that kept her from knocking, shame at the way she acted and how she may have jeopardized everything. Long moments passed before finally, without thinking, she quickly knocked three times. Not long after, Ann's father opened up, looking down at Riley with a severe expression.

Riley gulped, embarrassed, but managed to sputter out, "Is Ann home? I really need to talk to her."

"I don't think she wants to see you," he said in a clipped voice.

"Please?" she begged. "It's very important."

"You hurt her."

She couldn't keep looking him in the eyes after he said that. She stared at her feet and spoke as apologetically as she could. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. This whole thing is just a big misunderstanding. And I want to make it right. Please?"

Without saying another word, he slowly closed the door. Riley wasn't sure if she should leave or not until she heard footsteps running up the stairs and the vague noise of a bedroom door opening. What seemed like an eternity later, he returned and said nothing more than, "She'll talk to you."

Riley nodded, stepped through the door, and walked with purpose up the stairs.

* * *

She wasn't crying anymore when Riley entered her room, but she was still lying on her back on her bed while squeezing tight a stuffed animal across her chest, a position she had been in almost non-stop the past week. At the sound of the handle turning she stood up slowly and sat with her feet dangling over the side. At the sight of Riley's face every emotion flooded her mind with feelings, even a twinge of Joy at the hopeful possibility that things might work out between them. Unlikely, Sadness reminded her. Riley managed a weak smile that Ann couldn't return. A quiet "hey" was all she could muster. Riley walked over to the bed and set next to her, awkward waves overwhelming both of them.

"So," Riley began, "I think we need to talk."

Ann started rambling. "Riley I am so, _so_ sorry. I was really out of line kissing you and I was so stupid to think that you liked me that way and I totally understand if you never want to see me again." Fresh tears started rolling down her cheeks. "I'm such an idiot and I'm so disgusting but please _please_ don't tell anybody, okay? That's all I ask."

Riley was taken aback with her mouth hung open as Ann started truly sobbing. She had come to make things right, and here this girl was acting as if she had done wrong. All she could think to do was wrap her in a comforting hug as she reassured her. "Ann, you don't have to apologize! You didn't do anything wrong. And you're not stupid. You are an amazing person, so kind and fun to be around and sweet. I should be apologizing. I'm sorry I walked away like I did and I'm sorry that I haven't talked to you these last few days." Breaking the hug, Ann wiped her eyes and seemed to calm down slightly. "Look, when you first said you wanted to 'go out,' I didn't realize you meant you wanted to go out _on a date_. Frankly, it speaks to how clueless I am that I didn't catch on sooner."

"So, you were wondering if we could just be friends?" It was already far more than she had hoped for this conversation to turn out.

"Well, not exactly." Probably not the right thing to say, as a crestfallen look briefly reappeared on Ann's face, so Riley immediately followed up with the point she was about to make. "But I've had a really great time every time we did stuff together, and I think I might…like you, ya know? Like really like you."

"Are…are you being serious?"

Taking her hand in her own, Riley smiled and stared deep into her eyes. "And I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go out on a date sometime? As my girlfriend?"

For the first time since their sleepover together, Ann smiled a genuine and happy smile. "I'd like that very much."

Then Riley, acting on pure adrenaline, pressed a peck to her lips. It wasn't perfect, too fast and shaky, but still it brought each of them great happiness, and in fact that's what their tears where made of when they started weeping then. Pure tears of relieved happiness.

* * *

A golden orb for each of them formed in both of their heads, rolling into positions in their respective hubs of core memories. In Riley's head an entirely new island was formed; Romantic Relationship Island, while Low Self Esteem Island crashed and fell into the abyss that was Ann's memory dump. Her emotions cheered as it was destroyed, and even Disgust seemed strangely satisfied.

"You know what," Disgust said, "I'm starting to think that Ann is pretty cool after all."


End file.
